As peaceful protest and armed suppression have embroiled the Middle East—in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, Algeria, and elsewhere—in an unprecedented way, today we look back 20 years ago to the initiation of the ground invasion of Iraq during the First Persian Gulf War (1990-91). Most people are familiar with Desert Shield and Desert Storm, but what about Desert Sabre?

In August 1990, Saddam Hussein ordered an invasion of Kuwait, and his forces quickly overwhelmed the small emirate. In response, through Operation Desert Shield, President George H.W. Bush assembled a mighty coalition of forces to deter an attack against Saudi Arabia and to reverse the invasion of Kuwait that included not only U.S. personnel but also soldiers from the United Kingdom, France, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and several other countries. On January 16-17, 1991, the allies launched Operation Desert Storm, a massive U.S.-led air offensive against Iraqi forces. Five weeks later, the ground assault came. As Britannica relates:

Operation Desert Sabre, a massive allied ground offensive, was launched northward from northeastern Saudi Arabia into Kuwait and southern Iraq on February 24, and within three days Arab and U.S. forces had retaken Kuwait city in the face of crumbling Iraqi resistance. Meanwhile, the main U.S. armoured thrust drove into Iraq some 120 miles (200 km) west of Kuwait and attacked Iraq’s armoured reserves from the rear. By February 27 these forces had destroyed most of Iraq’s elite Republican Guard units after the latter had tried to make a stand south of Al-Baṣrah in southeastern Iraq. By the time that U.S. President George Bush declared a cease-fire for February 28, Iraqi resistance had completely collapsed.

Below we present two images from Operation Desert Sabre. In the first, General Norman Schwarzkopf points to troop positions that were 150 miles outside of Baghdad on the evening of February 24. The second shows U.S. Marines during the February invasion.